The Complete Guide to Vegetables for Amateurs and Experts

Susan Brown is a B.C. horticulturist, permaculture designer, and early
childhood education instructor.

This vegetable gardening guide has been written for the Pacific coastal
region, with its long growing season, mild winters, and cooler summers.
The general information can be adapted to less-temperate climates.

Newton, an education assistant at the U.B.C. Botanical Garden, has, in
addition to other B.C. garden writing and editing, worked answering Hort
Line, a gardeners’ phone-in service. These direct contacts with expert
and amateur gardeners show in her choices of the kinds of information
gardeners may need.

The book fulfills its title and stated goals. It is a comprehensive
encyclopedia of vegetables. It does include concise but adequate
planning, planting, and plant-care techniques, as well as tips on
harvesting, storage, and extending the season. It is, as designed, easy
to read, quickly providing answers to questions.

I appreciate the identification of vegetables by plant family and
places of origin.

Newton recommends the use of commercial chemical fertilizers. Organic
options are usually, but not consistently, included.

The book is quite basic, with few illustrations. There is a quick
reference chart, a bibliography, a source directory, and an index. It
does, very inexpensively and accurately, offer all the information one
would need to grow vegetables successfully.